Technology & Learning Resources

Our District has been using GMail for about a year and a half now. Don't be afraid to experiment with settings and labs in GMail - you can always change things back if you decide you don't like the way things look.

LABS:

There are a number of ways to make GMail work a little bit differently for your personal preferences. Some of these features can be found under Labs in the Settings Menu. Here's how to find them:

Open GMail

Click the Gear icon, upper right

Click Settings

Click Labs

Labs are simply experimental features that Google makes available to the masses. Feel free to poke around and try out any of the Labs you find interesting - just click Enable and Save Changes to start using them. If you don't like the Lab, click Disable and Save Changes to get rid of it.

Here are a few of my favorite labs that will help make GMail a little more friendly for some users.

Preview Pane

Preview Pane splits your screen to show the entire contents of your Inbox in one column and the readable message in another column, which is handy for smaller screens. Alternately, if you're on a larger screen or desktop computer, click the button at the top of the screen to split your screen horizontally, showing the most recent items in your Inbox at the top with a readable view of the selected message below.

Google Calendar Gadget

I used to live in Outlook - having my email, calendar, contacts all in one virtual place life a lot easier. Google separates things out a bit more than liked at first. The Google Calendar Gadget added a daily agenda on the left side of my screen to help me see my next appointment(s) at a glance.

Unread Messages Icon

This little gadget simply places the number of unread emails in your Inbox over the GMail logo in the browser tab. Handy, and especially appreciated on those rare occasions when that number reads "0"!

Remember to Save Changes when you make changes to this screen. You can always come back and Disable these labs if you decide you don't like the changes!

Close Reading (ELA Shift Kit) with Susan McKee

The Close Reading Kit was designed to give administrators and teachers some background information on what is expected for student achievement with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the area of Close Reading. Contents of the kit include: An introduction and definition of Close reading and the need for rigorous instruction across content areas; Presentation materials to build capacity at the school level; Research based articles supporting the strategy of Close reading; and Instructional resources responsive to the demands of the CCSS. This is a 3-part Foundational Services series.

For now, I've tested it on a Windows 7 desktop, a WIndows 8 laptop, and a Chromebook. It seems to work about the same so long as the device has a working microphone. The room does need to be fairly quiet - background noise, fans, etc., seem to confuse things a bit. RIght now, it only converts voice to typed text, though it does do punctuation and at least 1 very basic navigation command: To start a new paragraph, just say "New Line." ("Backspace," "Delete," "Go Back," etc., don't work at this time.)

Reports from teachers indicate that it does not work well at this time with non-English language conversion. Also, it is only available in Google Docs - no sign of it in other Google Apps for Education like Slides, Sheets, or Forms.

Despite these limitation, this is still a nice addition to the functionality of Google Docs If typical Googley Goodness prevails, users can expect to see further enhancements and improvements soon!

It is IMPERATIVE that students change their passwords IMMEDIATELY and regularly. Schedule time during the next week to help students change their passwords, and develop a plan to do this at regular intervals - once per quarter, for example - to keep student accounts secure.

This is part of teaching Internet Safety, which Illinois law states is everyone's responsibility! (Click to learn more about the Illinois Internet Safety Law.)

Passwords should be 8 characters or more and have a mixture of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, & special characters

Reinforce to your classes, and as professionals practice the following:

It's really important that we keep Chromebooks up to date. Students who are not appearing in Hapara or cannot access other local resources may need to apply updates.

How will I know if an update is needed?

Google pushes out updates about every 6 weeks, and generally they tend to download in the background when ids are connected to our network. When you see a small white upward-pointing arrow near the time display (usually in the lower-right corner of the screen), simply click it. Find and click the words "Restart To Apply Updates." In less than 30 seconds, the device will restart and kids will be back to work.

This short video describes this simple process:

Can I Force An Update?

Yep! Here's how:

Have the student sign into the device

Click the time display, usually in the lower right corner of the screen

Click Settings

Click About Chrome OS

Click Check for and Apply Updates

The device will find the latest version of Chrome OS & compare that with the device. If updates are needed it will begin to download. If not, it will tell you that the device is up to date.

If updates are needed wait for the download to complete & click the button that will Restart to Apply Updates

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I want to make you aware that there is a relatively new social media app called “After School.” After School is designed for Apple’s iOS, which means it can only be accessed through Apple mobile devices, such as iPhones, iPods, and iPads. This app allows students to post messages anonymously for anyone within that group to see. Currently, there are several junior high and high school students that use this app and are posting anonymous messages, some of which are extremely inappropriate and intentionally hurtful. We are asking that you help us by monitoring your child’s social media use so that we may provide the best learning environment we can for our children.

Please note: Many apps allow similar interactions, including YikYak, Secret, Whisper, Ask.fm, and others. Many have reporting capabilities and age restrictions in place to help curb inappropriate activities, but many students appear to continue to use apps like these and After School for cyber-bullying, threats, and intentionally hurtful behaviors. We hope you will join our efforts to continue educating students and our local community about appropriate use of Internet resources.